I Love Filming In… Buckinghamshire!

For the final instalment of our I Love Filming In… series we head to Buckinghamshire, home to Pinewood Studios and the setting for ‘A Little Chaos’, a film directed by and starring Alan Rickman.

‘A Little Chaos’ sees Kate Winslet starring as Sabine de Barra, a female landscape-gardener who is awarded the assignment to construct the grand gardens at Versailles, a position which thrusts her to the very centre of the court of King Louis XIV, played by Rickman. Representatives for the film reached out to our Production Services team early on, enquiring about potentially using regional UK locations as a double for rural France.

The production were specifically looking for stately homes that could double as the grand palaces of pre-revolutionary France. Their search took them to some of Britain’s best-loved great houses, including Waddesdon Manor and Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, as well as to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. With a garden central to the story, the production also needed some versatile outdoor space and found most of what they were looking for in Black Park, a country park next door to Pinewood Studios, which covers over 500 acres of woodland, heathland and grassland.

We were able to assist with filming of scenes at the Golden Valley in the National Trust’s Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire. Production Liaison Manager Hayley Armstrong worked with Hertfordshire’s Police and Highways to organise some last minute traffic management, allowing the sound of traffic to be minimised whilst filming in the Golden Valley took place. The team also handled local resident concerns and ensured that they were dealt with quickly and easily to ensure a smooth shoot.

Our Production Services team tackle over 1,000 enquiries a year from filmmakers and producers looking to take their projects outside of London. They help find location doubles and bespoke spots to suit tailored briefs, whilst also providing key information on production crew and facilities. Our services are free to use, so if you’re looking interested in filming in Buckinghamshire, filming in Hertfordshire or filming in Oxfordshire, don’t hesitate to get in touch: production@creativeengland.co.uk.

‘A Little Chaos’ is scheduled for UK release on April 17 2015. All images courtesy of Lionsgate UK.